sleepwalking?

[Tamistwins]

Hi I was just wondering if anyone elses child awakes from sleep and walks frantically around before returning to bed. My son has done this several times. He wakes up and walks back and forth around the house as if he isn't awake. He usually is shivering and seems as if he is looking for me and is confused. Of course me being scared, I try to talk to him asking him what's wrong and I take him back to bed where he goes back to sleep. Tonight he did this again. He had his second IVIG just recently and I am terrified. After his first IVIG alot of his old ocd that was gone returned in full force. His ocd is now terrible. When he awoke before he went to the bathroom and gagged as if he was going to vomit. He was just acting weird I was so scared. I am so terrified, I have tried to help and don't know what else to do. What if the IVIG dosen't help, what if he continues to become worse. All of these crazy thoughts in my head. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this behavior.

 

Thanks!

[Phasmid]

Hi,

 

My son did this for much of his life until about age 8 (now 12). Not necessarily walking all over, but EXTREMEMELY disturbed sleep which included:

 

waking up screaming

walking

talking in sleep

profuse night sweating

night terrors

 

They stopped when we started treating in a number of ways for infections, but not overnight. They gradually got better, less often.

 

Some people swear by melatonin, a supplement for sleep

I had good response with giving extra magnesium at night before bed

 

Other suggestions that helped us:

 

No television/video games after 6 pm

no stimulants in food or drinks

manage stress/minimize stress late in day

hot shower

something with calcium in it (milk, cheese) as well as some tryptophan in it such as turkey (fresh cooked)

 

When my son has night waking/talking in sleep, I know that some sort of trouble is brewing inside such as another relapse. If he is not relapsing, I know it is due to stress with him, including school and playing video games too late/too much!

 

 

[Tamistwins]

Ty plasmid for your detailed reply. My 7 year old did this after his second ivig and I got really scared. He has done something like it a few times previous but this time bd seemed terrified. Minimal stress before bed lol good one, wish we could.

[tantrums]

I can't help with the IVIG aspect, but my son has had seriously disturbed sleep all of his life I think I'll sleep when he's an adult and moves out

 

Night terrors started before age 1. And those were TERRIFYING until we became used to them. They phased out for the most part but happen once in a blue moon now.

 

He still talks in his sleep, thrashes around, sweats profusely and has to be changed often AND sleep walks. My DS is 7 and I just got rid of the baby gate in the hall last year. I have been known to build lego towers in the hall though

 

If you can - try not to talk. It doesn't help and may only add to the confusion. Although I know they catch you off guard and sometimes you can't tell right away that they are asleep. My son is very "jerky", like you said shivering, when he does it, so I can usually tell. Just lead back to bed and tuck back in.

 

Make sure your doors are locked well. When I was a CPS worker I had several calls for kids wandering in the night and they were usually sleep walkers

[Familyof5]

My son also did this for many years. Night terrors, sweats, grinding his teeth, talking in sleep, screaming and thrashing in sleep, and the roaming around the house in middle of night. Add in the special spot in his bedroom where he would confuse for a toilet! His body also twitched in his sleep. My son's sleepwalking and other nighttime symptoms stopped (except for grinding==he still does that) when we moved out of our house. Our home was contaminated with mold in our air system. He may have slept walked only a handful of times since living in our new home for a year. And each of those episodes I can correlate with him being exposed to toxic air and causing his symptoms to flare up. We have seen a dramatic improvement in his sleep, as well as in his other symptoms. It is so amazing to see him getting a restful night's sleep now!